The film was co-produced by the production companies of Eric Idle and Lorne Michaels, and directed by Idle and Gary Weis. It was first broadcast on 22 March 1978 on NBC, earning the lowest[2][3] ratings of any show on American Prime time network television that week. It did much better in the ratings when it premiered in the UK on BBC2 on 27 March 1978.[4]

Contents

Plot

All You Need Is Cash is a series of skits and gags that illustrate the fictional Rutles story, closely following the chronology of the Beatles' career.

Cast

Eric Idle as Dirk McQuickly, a parody of Paul McCartney; as The Narrator; and as Stanley J. Krammerhead III, Jr., occasional visiting professor of applied narcotics at the University of Please Yourself, California

Production

Writing

The flim was co-written by Eric Idle and Neil Innes. The music and events of the Rutles paralleled that of the Beatles, parodying many of the latter's career highlights. The animated film Yellow Submarine became the Yellow Submarine Sandwich, and the song "Get Back" became "Get Up and Go".

Casting

The film has many cameo appearances by both British and American comedians, including alumni of Monty Python, Saturday Night Live, and Rutland Weekend Television. George Harrison has a cameo role as a television journalist conducting an interview outside the headquarters of Rutle Corps, oblivious to the stream of people coming out of the building carrying items stolen from the office; this is a reference to the Beatles' famously plundered Apple Boutique and Apple Headquarters, where even the ceiling lining was looted. The interview ends abruptly as the microphone is stolen out of his hand.

Fourteen of Innes' songs were released on a soundtrack album (the CD version added six songs omitted from the original vinyl album) entitled The Rutles. The album was both critically and commercially successful and was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Comedy Recording of the year. The orchestrations and arrangements for the Rutles recordings were made by film composer John Altman. John Halsey, Ricky Fataar, and Neil Innes performed their own respective musical and vocal parts, but Eric Idle's vocals were sung [slightly sped up][citation needed] by Ollie Halsall, who also played the lead guitar parts.

Home media

The show has been released on DVD, originally in a 66-minute version incorporating cuts for syndication, later in a "special edition" restored to its full length of 76 minutes and with extras including a commentary by Idle. The full-length version replaces a spoof newsreel voiceover by Idle with an American-sounding announcer. In 2013, the show was given a Blu-ray release in the form of a double pack with "The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch", once again in its original 76 minute version.[5]

The soundtrack was reissued on CD. It included additional tracks from the original television sessions remixed in stereo by Neil Innes. Innes, Fataar and Halsey returned in 1996 to record The Rutles Archaeology, but without the involvement of Eric Idle.